Wednesday, February 27, 2013

As retailers of
fine wines, we try to be on the forefront of wine trends — and that includes
natural wine. Natural
wine can be hard to define, but at the very least, they’re organically farmed,
fermented without yeast, and bottled with very low sulfur levels.The goal of many “natural” winemakers (a
label most of them don’t actually use for themselves) is to exhibit terroir as
best they can. With every bottle they make, these intrepid, talented farmers
highlight both their winemaking skills as well as each vintage’s character.

an example of a greenwashed wine

Natural
winemakers work in almost every region, and though they can inspire envy,
they’re also sometimes derided. Opponents of the “natty” wine movement object
to a few things: namely, that the word “natural” wine implies that other wines
are somehow “unnatural.”For me,
this is an odd concern; I have more of an issue with the idea that natural wine
has no strict definition. Since it’s become a trendy term, some bottles are
greenwashed, claiming to be natural when they’re actually not.

To
me, the advantages of drinking natural wine outweighs any marketing ruses. For
the most part, these wines are artisanal products with a traceable line from
artist to consumer; in other words, they have provenance. Plus, the wines are
often elegant and very tasty!

Olivier Cousin, natural wine maker

Occasionally,
natural wine shows bottle-to-bottle variance, or contains mineral or earthy
flavors that some people find challenging. However, some are truly amazing
wines. I really enjoy them, and at home, this is the kind of wine I like to
drink — and I usually feel fine the next day.